Connected
by crazi4thecullens
Summary: What if it were Jared who was captured instead of Melanie? Roles are reversed and lives are changed forever...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! I'm back! This is a re-write of my original story Connected. And I am so much happier with this one than I was with the other. Read the AN at the bottom for more info!**

**I don't own The Host or any of the characters.**

**Eons in the Stars**

_What is going on? Where am I? _Who _am I? _I asked myself. I was disoriented and tired, that was all I knew.

"Eons in the Stars? Can you hear me?" A deep male voice asked. "Can you see me?"

I attempted to open my eyes, but I found that this was a harder task than it should have

been. I opted to verbalize my answer but found that this was even harder.

Once I figured out that I needed to make noise with this body in order to communicate, I

was already in another world.

I was experiencing one of my host's memories, and a vivid one at that.

_It was too late. They found me already. My thoughts automatically shifted_ _to the two people I was now going to be leaving behind; my little brother, and the woman I loved. _

They'll be fine._ I thought as I ran, but a big part of me had a terrifying thought. What if she couldn't? _

"_Wait, stop! There is danger ahead! If you don't stop now you will die!" One of the parasites shouted. _

_I don't acknowledge them, mostly because I don't care. If it could keep my family safe then I would gladly die. So I ran faster towards my doom: an open elevator shaft. They plead with me one last time before I reach my destination but I don't listen and I jump. I happily let the immense pain overtake me. _

"Eons in the Stars, it's okay. You're okay." The same deep voice said in a soothing tone. "What's wrong with him?" I scratchy, irritated male voice asked.

"He is experiencing his host's last memory. You know as well as I do, it was a terrifying one." The first voice said.

"Look Ford's, he's waking!"

"Can you hear me Eons in the Stars?" The calmer of the two men asked.

I think I made some sort of motion or noise that let him know that I could indeed hear him, because he stopped asking that particular question. But then came a flood of new ones from the irritated man.

"Can you speak? Do you remember anything new? Can you tell me if anyone else was with your host? If so, how many?" Question after question came from this mans mouth.

"Blazing Trails, you must let him relax." Fords said quietly.

"Fords we need this information. If he was able to survive this long, there must be more!" The man named Blazing Trails exclaimed.

The tone of his voice was beginning to scare me, I could not believe a soul could be so demanding and harsh to another soul.

Fords didn't reply.

After a moment of silence I decided to try and open my eyes again. This time I was successful.

"Oh, good! You're able to open your eyes!" Fords said. "Can you see clearly?"

I nodded.

Blazing Trails intervened then, and continued to ask me questions. "Was there-"

Before he could continue, Fords said "Please take it easy on him and be patient with him."

Blazing Trails shot him a look and restated the question. "Was there anyone with your host, Eons in the Stars?"

A picture flashed in front of my mind, two people were smiling back at me.

"Yes." I stated.

_NO!_ A voice screamed at me. _Don't tell them ANYTHING!_

I panicked for a moment, was my host defective?

_I am not defective! _I ignored him.

"Um, excuse me? Was I put in a defective host to find information for you?" I asked.

"Pardon? What do you mean by defective? According to our test results this host is now perfectly fine." Fords said with a puzzled expression on his face.

_Just stop talking, pretend everything is fine. Just listen to me, trust me. _

"N-never mind. I guess this new host is throwing me off a little." I said. I automatically felt like bile was going to rise in my throat. I had just lied to someone.

"Well, that's just to be expected. You are unfamiliar with this body, and these feelings." he explained. "And going off of that, you should know that these first few weeks are going to be a little scary. You are going to experience very new and intense emotions."

"Can we please get back to the fact that he just admitted that there were more people with him?" The angry Seeker asked.

Fords sighed, but let the Seeker continue.

"Who were they?"

I looked through memories but couldn't find any memory past the age of twenty, right when the souls took over.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. I can't see anything past his childhood." I admitted quietly.

"What do you mean?" Fords asked.

"I can't, there's this wall… I can't see past it." I said. "I'm sorry."

"You need not apologize Eons in the Stars. Just take a break and see of you can later." he said.

"No, we need this information now!" Blazing Trails almost shouted.

"Blazing Trails, can you please stop. I will give him your contact information and I will make sure he gets a hold of you in the next few days." Fords said firmly.

"But-" Blazing Trails started to protest.

"As his Healer I an advising that he rest and talk to you later."

Blazing Trails left the room, but I could tell he was not happy about it.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Not a problem," he said just as quietly. "I am sorry for his behavior he is just so anxious to find the last of the rogue humans."

_I'm sure he is._ My host said sourly.

_Shh, _I said in a weak attempt to get him to stay quiet while the healer was talking.

I nodded at Fords.

"Okay, well all of the information you need to contact me, Blazing Trails or your Comfortor Kathy is in this paperwork here. And there is someone outside who is going to take you to your apartment and help you find all of the local shops and show you how everything on this planet works." He said, handing me a thin folder of paper.

"Thank you for everything, Fords." I said, holding my hand out in the customary Earth manner.

"Not a problem, Eons in the Stars." he said with a warm smile. "And good luck with your new life."

"Thank you," I said standing and walking to the door.

It looks like I'm going to need all the luck I can get.

**A/N: Better right? **

**I am going to really, really, really try to keep a schedule for updating unlike my last attempt at this story. We're looking at about once every week to two weeks.**

**Review please! It makes me write faster. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: A huge thanks to thehost1212 and sapphirenight12, you guys literally inspired me to get this chapter out ASAP. **

**Disclaimer: Last time I checked I didn't own the host. Let me check again… nope still don't.**

**Wanda**

Yesterday two new people arrived in the caves. One girl about my age, and a boy who looked to only be about twelve or thirteen. They hardly spoke to anyone, they just clung to each other. The boy, who later introduced himself as Jamie, apparently is one of Jeb's nephews. And the girl, Melanie, was traveling with Jamie and his older brother, Jared.

Melanie didn't speak about Jared, and couldn't even be in the room when Jamie told us what happened to him.

"We were on a raid," Jamie explained. "Relaxing and watching TV when we saw someone that looked just like Sharon on the local news. Jared was so convinced it really was her that he decided that he needed to look for her. Mel and I were pretty against it for a while but then we agreed that if maybe we found her we would find Jeb and his hiding place."

"Who is Melanie exactly, and where did you find her?" I heard Sharon ask.

"We found her asleep in a drainage pipe about four or five years ago. Once she proved she was still human we took her with us and we've been together ever since." he answered quickly. "Oh, and she and Jared were like boyfriend and girlfriend I guess."

But the look on Melanie's face whenever his name was spoken around her told me that it was more than that. They weren't just boyfriend and girlfriend, they were like…soul mates, I guess.

"Anyway, we made all of the plans and prepared ourselves as best we could and when the time came to say goodbye to Jared, we did it tearfully. And Mel and I just waited." he sighed. "We waited for two weeks, and then we headed to Chicago to the building where Jared would be waiting for us. But to our surprise, he's not there. The only thing that was sitting there was a scrap of paper messy words saying _not fast enough love you, love Jamie be safe._

Listening to this little boy speak so sadly, was breaking my heart. He sounded more like a man than the little boy he was. A broken and scared man.

No one knew what to say after that. Luckily, Jeb was able to break the silence.

"Can someone please go find our new guest so we can get some food in her?" he smiled at me, "How 'bout you Wanda."

I nodded and went looking for Melanie.

It took me almost ten minutes to find her. She was sitting in the middle of the game room, just staring up at the night sky.

"Hey, Melanie." I said.

"Hi," she said, her gaze not leaving the holes in the ceiling.

"So, uh, I was supposed to come find you and bring you to dinner…" I said awkwardly.

"Listen…" she said, waiting for me to interject my name..

"Wanda," I stated quickly.

"Okay, listen Wanda, thank you for coming to find me and everything, I appreciate it and all but I'm not really in the mood to sit around with a bunch of people and pretend I'm okay when we both know that is clearly not the case."

I didn't know how to respond after that.

"But it would be really nice if you went and got us some food and came back here and ate it with me." she suggested.

I nodded and got up to retrieve the food.

"Wanda, where's Melanie?" Jeb asked when I entered the makeshift cafeteria alone.

"She doesn't really feel up to sitting with everyone so I'm taking some food for her and we're going to eat together." I explained.

"Well it looks like Jamie and Melanie will be in the cave across from yours. After dinner I'll show Jamie where it is, can you do the same for Melanie?" he asked.

I nodded and went to the counter where I proceeded to load up plates with several hard rolls made just yesterday and two large bowls of onion soup.

I made my way back to the game room slowly, trying not to spill the soup. Melanie was in the exact same position she was in when I first saw her. I set her plate down in front of her and sat down Indian style before setting mine down.

She was the first to speak. "So what kind of name is Wanda?"

"My parents did a lot of blow after I was born," I said, using the fake story I had created for unsuspecting people.

"No way," she said, calling out my bluff.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. My real name is Wanderer. No joke. My parents were really spiritual people, and they thought that I was a wandering soul." **(No pun intended)**

I explained.

She just nodded and continued to eat the bland soup.

"So how does everything work around here. I'm sure Jeb will explain it again later, but maybe you could tell me first?" she questioned.

"Well, we all have daily jobs and people trade off every once and a while. People go on raids usually every two or three months depending on how low supplies are." I said giving her the most basic information.

This continued on for about a half an hour, going back and forth between each other.

"Do you have any family here?" she asked.

"Yeah, my brother Kyle and I came here together about five months ago." I answered.

"How did you even find this place?"

"Kyle and I were wandering around Nevada, you know trying to stay alive, when Aaron and Brandt found us. You'll meet them eventually. And you obviously can see what happened after that."

She gave a small laugh.

"How did you find this place?" I questioned.

"Jamie and Jared," she began, I noticed that her voice quivered when she said Jared's name. "Had this old photo album and on the back Jeb had created these carvings. Jamie and I analyzed it for weeks until we were sure how to get here, Jared didn't want to know incase he was captured. And J-Jared made me promise that if anything were to happen to him we were to try and find Jeb. So that's what we did."

"Do you want to…talk about…Jared at all?" I asked hesitantly when she finished.

"No, I don't." Melanie answered sharply.

"I'm sorry, I just thought maybe you'd want to get it off your chest."

She sighed, "Thank you, but no I really don't right now."

I let it go, and we stood and walked into the almost empty kitchen to put our dishes away.

I had no idea what she was going through, so I knew I could be of little to no help. I understood what it felt like to lose parents but not to lose my entire family and then the love of my life.

"Would you like to go to bed?" I offered as we walked down the long hallway towards the rooms.

"Where is Jamie sleeping?" she asked as we got to her cave.

"Jamie is sleeping in your room. Do you mind?"

"No not at all."

"And I'm right across the hall if you need anything." I said pointing to my cave.

She nodded and waved goodnight.

This poor girl was hiding something, from talking to her I knew that much. And I desperately wanted to find out what it was.

**A/N:**

**And there you have it. **

**Review please! (I wasn't kidding when I said it makes me write faster.)**


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Ah! I love reviews! They make me happy! By the way, I changed Jared's age, just because I wanted him younger. I have no problem with their original 9 year age difference, but for my story I need him to be like three or four years younger._

_Disclaimer: I'm gonna check one more time… well would you look at that, I STILL don't own The Host._

_Eons in the Stars_

_**After spending an hour with the assistant Fords handed me off to, I was finally in my new apartment getting ready for bed. **_

_**I hadn't heard any more from my host since he begged me not to tell anyone about him. I still felt sick. **_

_**I shouldn't have lied. I thought to myself.**_

_**Yes, you should have. **_**He said.**

_**Why are you so adamant about me keeping you a secret? **_**I questioned. **_**Is it to protect **_**them**_**? Your family?**_

**He didn't respond.**

**After sitting on my couch in complete silence for about ten minutes I decided to pull out the folder that Fords had given me. I flipped through a couple of pages just filled with random information, until I got to a page labeled ****Host Information****.**

**Name: Jared Howe**

**Age: 29**

**Height: 6'2**

**Weight: 190**

**Marital Status: Single**

**Children: None that are known**

**According to our extensive testing your host is completely healthy. Congratulations on your new life, and good luck.**

**Sincerely, **

**Fords Deep Waters**

_Damn straight I'm completely healthy. Spending six years doing nothing but looking for food and heavy lifting will do that to you. _Jared spat.

_Can you please not be so…so… _I had no idea what word to put here.

_Bitter? _he offered.

_Yes, bitter?_

_I have to be bitter. Your kind took my life away. Mine and millions of other's. You parasites are the reason half of my family is dead. _Jared spoke his word angrily, and it was making my head hurt.

_They are not dead. _I said softly.

_Yeah, well they might as well be._

Once again, I don't respond to his comments. His body is very used to the anger that is currently washing through it, but my mind is not and the feeling is making me feel nauseous. I don't know if I will be able to handle this new body.

Maybe I should just talk to Blazing Trails or Fords about getting a new body.

_And what, exactly, would happen to me if you were to do this? _Jared questions.

I think for a moment. _Your body would be disposed of. Well, after a Seeker attempts to get the information needed._

_What information is needed from me? _He asks even though he's positive he already knows.

_We need to know where the others are. The wild humans are terrifying the souls. _I say, remembering what Fords' assistant told me before he dropped me off.

We_ are terrifying _you? He asks with a dark chuckle. _You want to know terrifying? Try sleeping in a drainage pipe littered with rats and mice while clutching a seven year old and a bag of cereal and dried fruit as a dozen parasites run through the streets looking for you._

I hadn't experienced this, so once more I had no way to respond.

_You're not going to know anything about them. Just accept that. _Those were the last words I heard from him that night.

I went to bed an hour later, still feeling to nauseous to eat, and almost as soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep.

_Jamie and I were tiptoeing through our latest home, a dark and dripping empty sewer. There was a loud clattering from behind me, and I quickly jumped and turned around to face a scared looking Jamie picking up his full pack. He looked up at me sorrowfully. _

"_I'm sorry," he whimpered. "It's just really heavy."_

_I kneeled down and lifted him and the pack. Before I had taken maybe thirty steps and he was asleep on my shoulder._

_Suddenly, I saw a light up ahead. I was about to turn back when I realized that the light wasn't coming closer or going away. It was dim and obviously was attempted to be hidden. _

_I decided to go over and look at it. I was shocked at what I found there. A girl, wrapped tightly in a small fleece blanked was curled up and fast asleep. She looked to be about my age, maybe younger. But I could tell she was defiantly human. No parasite would be sleeping out here like this._

_I set Jamie down a couple of feet away and pulled out our stolen blanket and wrapped it around him. I then walked over to the still sleeping girl. _

_She looked so tired, even in her sleep. But she was beautiful. I gently tapped on her side, once…twice…three times, and then her eyes opened and then her mouth. Her scream lasted only half a second before I covered her mouth with my hand. _

"_Sh, please. You'll wake Jamie and the rest of the neighborhood." I said in the most soothing voice I could muster._

_She didn't stop though, and I couldn't blame her. I had just woken her up out of what looked like a dead sleep, and she had no idea who I was._

"_Please, please, please stop. It's okay, I'm human. I'm human!" _

_She stopped thrashing and screaming, but I could tell that she was still scared._

_I held her down with one hand and then picked up the candle she was using and put it close to my face. _

"_Look, I'm human." I repeated._

_She looked into my eyes and then before I even figured out what she was doing, her arms were wrapped tightly around me. _

_She just kept uttering, "Oh, my god!"_

_Once she had calmed down I finally learned her name. _

"_I'm Melanie." she whispered after I asked. "Melanie Stryder."_

"_I'm Jared Howe, and that's my brother Jamie." I said just as quietly._

_Three hours later Melanie is asleep on my chest and I'm gently stroking her hair. Jamie is still asleep, and therefore is completely oblivious to our new companion._

_I have known her for a little more than three hours and already I can tell that I'm completely wrapped around her finger. _

_She is feisty, funny and beautiful, not to mention smart. She's perfect, and it was a miracle that I found her. All I know is now that I have, I know that I' never going to let her go._

My eyes opened and I glanced around the room, trying to remember where I was. I spotted my new computer sitting across the room and before I could lose my nerve I quickly sat in front of it and turned it on. Once I had everything on and my email up and running I found the Seeker's email address and began to type.

**There were two other people with my host. **

**Melanie Stryder, 24**

**Jamie Howe, 13**

**They were last known to be in the Chicago area, but it is doubtful that they are still residing there. **

**Sincerely, **

**Eons in the Stars**

_NO!!!_ Jared yelled after I hit the send button.

_I'm sorry but I'm obligated to tell them these things. _I said, trying to calm him down.

He didn't speak to me after that.

I felt nauseous _again. _I really disliked this feeling.

**A/N: Yay! Another chapter! **

**I'm trying to keep it pretty close to the book, but I am nowhere near as talented as Stephenie Meyer. **

**Review please! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just for the record, I love Jared waaaay more than I love Ian. You Ian lovers are REALLY lucky that he's a soul, because if he were human I can guarantee that you would not still be reading this story. **

**Anyway, here we go with chapter four.**

**Disclaimer: I could change my name to freaking Stephenie Meyer, and I STILL would not own the Host, so what does that tell you about its current copyright?**

**Melanie **

**Two days earlier**

"Mel?" Jamie's parched voice croaked.

"Yeah, Jamie?" I answered, my voice almost mimicking his.

"Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly.

I took a moment before answering, I thought about lying but knew that he would want me to tell him honestly. "No, Jamie. I'm really, really not okay."

He was silent for a moment. "I-I'm sorry you're hurting Mel."

I smiled down at the young teenage boy I was now solely responsible for and said, "It's not your fault Jamie. Don't blame yourself."

"I can't help it. I should have tried harder to make him stay." He looked so sad, it was breaking my heart. Jamie and I spent days trying to keep Jared from leaving, but he was hell-bent on finding a permanent place for us to live and he was sure his Uncle Jeb had one. We gave up the day before Jared was planning on leaving, deciding it was just better to spend as much time as possible together before his departure.

"Is there any more water?" he rasped.

I knew there was little under a gallon and a half in my pack in the seat behind Jamie. I gave him the half empty one and he began guzzling it down.

"Whoa, slow down. We need to save as much water as possible." I warned. He looked at me sheepishly.

"Sorry." Jamie said. He sounded very refreshed after his large gulp.

I took a much smaller one, but it still made me feel much better. We began driving again.

"When do you think we'll get there?" he asked after we had driven about three miles.

"My guess is around two or three days." I answered.

I had figured out the map that Jared and Jamie's uncle had carved into their family photo album about a week after Jared left.

I had just stared at the carved leather for hour and hours until everything clicked together. I went on several raids as we traveled towards Arizona until we had enough food and supplies to last about a week and a half in the dry desert. I made sure the back of the Jeep was filled with gallons and gallons of gas that way we could make most of our long journey by car. Jamie and I both knew however that soon we would be going by foot.

"Mel?" I heard Jamie ask from his passenger seat. "What if we're wrong and Jeb isn't out here?"

I had thought about this for the longest time before we actually left. This was my last hope. If he wasn't out here, then Jamie and I would most likely die out here in the painful heat.

He must have seen the look on my face when he answered. "I guess I know the answer."

I gave him weak smile in response.

We didn't feel the need to talk much during the last hour we spent driving before we were officially out of gas. The car slowed to a stop and the needle pointed the large E mockingly.

"Well Jamie, looks like we're hoofing it from here." I said sadly.

He nodded and grabbed his backpack, which was currently filled with four boxes of granola bars and a gallon of Gatorade. Which we were saving for emergencies.

After walking for six hours we found ourselves having no clue where we were, and in the dark. I suggested we sleep and Jamie agreed. We fell asleep quickly; Jamie's head on my stomach and his arms wrapped around my waist.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but I knew it would not be peaceful or happy.

_I opened my eyes from a deep and restful sleep and found myself staring into Jared's shining brown ones. _

"_Good morning Melly." he whispered before leaning in and giving me a kiss. I smiled after he pulled away and wrapped my arms around his neck._

"_Can you believe we found this place?" he asked me, his lips merely inches away from mine._

_Two days ago we stumbled across an abandoned cabin. We carefully watched it for twenty-four hours before entering it, and when we did it looked like it hadn't been lived in for years._

"_No, I can't. Now shut up and kiss me." I demanded._

_He chuckled but followed my orders. I took his top lip between mine and he took my bottom between his._

_Our kisses were gentle and sweet, but with a deep passion buried underneath. _

"_I love you." I whispered to him as his kisses moved to my jaw._

_He looked up at me, "I love you too."_

_I had been with Jared and Jamie for almost two years, and so far they were the best of my life. He leaned down and continued to kiss his way down my throat._

_Then there were three sharp raps on the door and Jared sighed and moved back to his side of our small bed._

"_C'mon in kid." Jared called. Jamie came bounding into our small room._

"_Morning!" he called as he jumped into our laps. Jared grunted when Jamie's elbow my contact with his ribs._

"_Oops, sorry." Jamie said._

_Jared just shrugged it off._

_We spent the rest of the morning in our bed, laughing and making jokes with each other._

_I smiled at my happy little family and thanked whatever higher power there may be for them._

I woke up gasping and crying. I hated this. I hated souls. Now, I was beginning to hate life. Jamie was the only thing that kept me from turning myself over to the parasites. I looked down at the young boy in my lap and smiled a little when I saw that he was still peacefully asleep.

"'Bout time you woke up." A gruff voice spoke from a few feet away.

I held in a shriek, fearing that Jamie would wake. "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm surprised that you don't recognize me from the photo album." he answered.

"You went through my stuff?!"

"You betcha. I needed confirmation that you weren't a soul." he said.

"And you couldn't have checked my neck?" I spat.

"Can we get back to the fact that you're holding one of my nephews and that you're carrying stuff from my family's past."

I sighed. "I take it you're Jeb?"

He nodded. "That I am."

"Where did you come from?" I asked. I didn't see anything that would point to any human existence out here. But then again, that was probably the point.

"There are hidden caves way out that way." he said pointing to the east.

I nodded and stroked Jamie's hair as he still slept soundly in my lap.

"Where did _you_ come from? And how did you find Jamie? Where's Jared?" he just kept firing off questions.

"One at a time please." I said.

"Okay then, where did you come from?"

"Jamie and I made our way here from Chicago." I answered.

"Now where is Jared? I think I might know already. But I want you to say it so I know for sure."

I took a deep breath before answering. "Last time I saw him was a month ago. He went looking for his cousin, Sharon. He never came back, so…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish my sentence.

"I think its time I wake Jamie." I said when he didn't say anything for a few very agonizingly long moments.

He nodded.

"Jamie, honey, its time to wake up." I said, "And I think there's someone you'd like to see."

He drowsily opened one eye, then hastily shut it when the bright sunlight hit it.

"C'mon kid, I don't got all day." Jeb said loudly.

Jamie's eyes shot open when he heard his voice.

"Uncle Jeb?" Jamie asked, hope clearly in his voice.

"Yeah kid, its me." Jeb replied.

Jamie shot up and threw his arms around his uncle in a tight embrace. I smiled at them despite my heartache at watching this without Jared by my side.

**Present **

I said goodnight to Wanda and snuck into the cave that Jamie and I now occupied. I took a peak at his mattress and he looked soundly asleep but I knew better.

"I know you're not asleep." I said to him.

He sighed, "I was waiting for you."

"You didn't have to do that."

"No, but I wanted to. I also wanted to make sure that you didn't get lost."

I gave a small laugh and crawled into bed with my clothes still in place, forgetting the shirt and shorts Wanda gave me. "Goodnight, Jamie."

"Night, Mel." he yawned before swiftly falling asleep.

**A/N: Longest chapter yet! If this doesn't make sense, I'm sorry. It's late and I've been up for like eighteen hours. But this chapter just HAD to be written. **

**Review, review, review! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Are there any Jared lovers out there? And I don't mean the I love Jared, but I like Ian more. I mean straight up Jared lovers?**

**If you're out there, please let me know! By the way, I don't really like the Wanda that SM created, so my Wanda is more Alice-like with a dash of her old self thrown in there.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Host, I do however own four copies of it. Yep, count 'em four!**

**Wanda**

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Kyle's obnoxious snoring. I groaned, then kicked his mattress as hard as I could. Which frankly wasn't very hard. However, it was apparently hard enough to get his snoring to stop…momentarily.

I hadn't gotten much sleep last night, my mind was only on the secret Melanie was harboring. I kept second guessing myself though. What if I was wrong about this? There was a fifty/fifty chance that I was just being paranoid and she just wanted to keep everything to herself.

I decided to just let Kyle sleep while I got up and checked on Melanie. I sighed while getting dressed and did it again as I made the short walk to Jamie and Melanie's cave.

I knocked on the large piece of wood in front of their entryway.

"Hello?" I called quietly.

"Come in!" Melanie called back just as quietly. She was awake and fully dressed, whereas Jamie was still soundly asleep.

"I was just coming in to check on how you guys are doing." I told her.

She smiled, "We're good, thanks." her voice sounded bright, but her eyes told a very different story.

I had seen Jared and Jamie only once before and by accident. I was in Sharon's room looking for a shirt when I found an old photo album. There were probably only three pictures that were fairly recent. The first was of Maggie, Sharon and the man I assumed was Sharon's father. The second was of a family reunion, and I had to hand it to the Stryder's; they sure new how to breed. There were over sixty people in the picture. And the third was of Jeb, Maggie, Sharon, Jared, Jamie and Jared and Jamie's parents.

I glanced down at the still sleeping boy at my feet and frowned. He was so young and had already experienced something no one his age ever had. I looked up at Melanie and noticed that she had the same expression I was currently wearing on her face as well.

"Hey Wanda, do you mind waiting here for a little while with Jamie?" she asked. "I need to talk to the doctor, and I don't want Jamie to wake up and find himself alone in a strange place."

I nodded, and bit my tongue in order to keep myself from questioning her motives for seeing Doc.

"Do you think you could point me in the direction of his room or office?" she asked fidgeting a little.

"Sure," I responded. "Just head straight and as soon as you get to the intersection take a left, then take a right and you should be there. And if you get lost just ask for Doc and somebody will point you in the right direction."

She nodded, "Is that his name? Doc?"

I shrugged, "It's probably not his real name, but that's the only name we've ever gotten out of him."

She laughed a little and gave me a small wave after telling me she would be back in a few minutes.

After she left, I found myself wandering about her room. I was bored and didn't want to wake Jamie.

The only things that were visible were two packs in the corner of the room and the minimal furniture that was already in the room. I sighed and plopped myself down on the empty bed next to Jamie's. But the second I hit the bed I heard a rough crunching sound and I flew right back up hoping that I hadn't damaged anything.

I lifted the blanket and found a faded white piece of paper.

My curiosity got the best of me and I picked it up and slowly unfolded the halved paper and took a deep breath before reading.

_Dear Jamie,_

_If you're reading this right now then either you've been going through my things or I've been taken. I really hope its not the latter, but I'm going to assume it is. _

_I'm sorry I've failed you as a brother, I should have been able to give you a better life than the one you've been given. Rationally I know I have no control over it, as you told me time and time again, but in my heart I feel like a failure. _

_I need you to watch over Melanie now. She will try to mother you even more now, and as you grow older the worse it will get. I know you hate it, but just let her be for a while. _

_Please, please take care of her for me. You and Melanie are my world and I can't bear the thought of something happening to you because I wasn't there to take care of you both. _

_I love you, Jamie. _

_Jared_

I had tears in my eyes as I finished the letter.

"If you think that one was sad, you should read the one he gave Melanie." Jamie whispered from his bed. His voice startled me, and I smiled at him guiltily.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have read it, but I found it under her pillow and I couldn't help but…" I started but he cut me off with a shake of his head.

"It's okay, I don't mind." he said with a smile. "Melanie reads it to me every night before I go to sleep. That's a bit babyish isn't it?" he asked, embarrassed by his admission.

"Not at all." I told him.

"Well I'm going to get dressed now…" he trailed off, and I took me a moment to get the hint.

"Oh! Sorry, I'll leave you alone to get dressed." I said sheepishly.

"Actually Wanda, do you mind showing me to the bathroom first?"

"No problem," I replied.

After leaving Jamie in the bathroom with a promise to return in a few minutes, I set off to find Jeb.

On the way, however, I passed Doc's office and overheard a bit of a conversation.

"Doc, are you sure?" A female voice asked. It sounded like Melanie's but I couldn't be positive.

"Well, the test is one-hundred percent, because of the obvious reasons, but with all of the information you've given me and the test I'm pretty damn sure."

I heard a soft groan come from Melanie, and then the sound of a chair gliding against the rough floor.

"It will all work out, Melanie." Doc said.

I didn't hear her reply, because I was already running back to meet Jamie.

I knew it! I knew it! I wanted to shout. There _was_ something she's hiding, and even though I knew it had to be either painful or sad, or possibly both, I needed to know what it was.

"Hey, Jamie. How was your bath?" I asked as I walked up to him.

He gave me a small smile, "It was nice. I feel so much better."

I nodded, understanding the feeling.

"How about some breakfast?" I asked. He nodded enthusiastically at me and we headed of towards the kitchen.

We were almost in the kitchen when Melanie caught up with us.

"Hi, Jamie. Hi, Wanda." she said.

Jamie grabbed her around the waist and gave her a hug. I just smiled at the interaction between the two. They reminded me of a brother and sister, and it made me miss my lost siblings. Sure, I had Kyle. But when you have- or should I say had-a family as big as mine one just isn't enough to quench the longing.

"So who's hungry?" I asked when they broke apart from their hug.

"Me!" Jamie said.

"Me too." Melanie smiled.

As we sat down with our food, I noticed several people getting up and walking towards our table.

Brandt was the first to introduce himself. "Hi Melanie and Jamie, I'm Brandt." Then Trudy followed suite, followed by Paige, Kyle, Geoffrey, Andy, Wes, and Lily.

Everyone was very cordial and polite, but each one of us excluding Melanie and Jamie, knew what was coming. I didn't know who was going to ask the crucial question, all I knew was that someone was going to and soon.

Let me try to explain, every time a new person arrived it was customary for us to learn about their arrival. Some stories were fairly typical and others were extremely interesting. I had to admit I was anxious for this one. Not one of us had ever brought a child along with us during the perilous journey here. Several kids did live here, but they were all born in the caves.

I was so curious that it was almost me that asked the question but thankfully Kyle beat me to it. No one wanted to be the one that asked it, it almost seemed rude but leave it to Kyle to get past that aspect and voice the question.

"So Melanie, what's your story?" he asked.

"Um, what story would that be?" she question in return.

"What he means to say is how did you get here?" Paige asked, in a more polite and precise manner.

"Well I guess it started about a month ago…"

**A/N: Gah! I suck so badly you guys! Really, I do! I'm really, really, really truly sorry for not updating! **

**And I promise I'll update faster next chapter. It's halfway done now. Oh, and I'm sorry if there are mistakes, it's like 2am and I'm not completely 100% coherent right now. ;) **

**So please bear with me and leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Well, here it is. Enjoy!**

Previously:

"_**So Melanie, what's your story?" he asked.**_

"_**Um, what story would that be?" she question in return.**_

"_**What he means to say is how did you get here?" Paige asked, in a more polite and precise manner. **_

"_**Well I guess it started about a month ago…" **_

**Melanie **

"_Jamie!" I frantically whispered. "Jamie we have to get out of here!" _

_He stood, still in shock in front of the door that led into the empty room which should have held a key part of each of our lives. _

"_Jamie!" I snapped, still whispering. "We need to go NOW!" _

"_Mel, he should have been here. Right here. Are you sure it was today?" he asked in a broken voice. "I mean, we could be early, right?" _

_My already broken heart, was once again crushed by the hurt and panic in his young voice. _

"_Jamie, please." I begged one final time. He snapped out of whatever trance he was in and took my outstretched hand. We then ran, and we ran fast. _

_We made our way back to the Jeep and were currently driving around, looking for a place to hide._

"_He-he promised that he would come back. He _promised." _Jamie had repeated this sentence at least six times in the last sixty seconds. We were parked in an alley by an old fast food restaurant that went under long before the Invasion. I could feel tears welling in my eyes but I had to be strong. I needed to be, for Jamie. _

_I was still holding my tears in as I responded. "I know, Jamie. I know." _

"_He has never, ever broken a promise to me, Mel." Jamie whispered. "Never! He has to be alive still. I know he is, he just _has_ to be." _

_I was now angry, mostly at myself for only coddling him. "Jamie, Jared is dead."_

"_No!" he cried. "Jared is still alive and he's waiting for us somewhere! He's probably worried and alone!" _

_I was frustrated beyond belief. If I yelled all of the things that were burning on the edge of my tongue Jamie would forever be changed. _

_So instead, I slapped him. _

_As my hand was making contact with his face, I regretted my decision. _

"_Oh! Oh, my god! Jamie…Jamie I'm so sorry!" _

_He was just looking at my hand, and then after a moment he his eyes met mine._

"_You-you hit me!" he exclaimed. _

"_I'm so sorry! Jamie, I wasn't thinking! It was the only thing I could think to do!" I knew that my statement might not have made sense, but that didn't matter._

"_Thank you," he mumbled. _

"_Wait…what?" I was so confused._

"_I was being crazy. I _know _Jared is gone. I just don't want to admit it." _

_I sighed in relief, I wasn't going to have to hurt this poor boy more than he was already hurt. _

"_Why aren't you sad? I thought you and Jared were like…lovers, or something." He seemed hurt by my lack of worry and pain._

"_Jamie, if I break down like I want to, you and I will never leave this parking lot." I told him. _

_He nodded in understanding, although I don't really think he did understand. He lost his brother, his best friend. I love my lover, my best friend and the only hope I had left for this world. _

"_It's okay to cry Mel." _

_As he said this, I felt two identical tears stream down my face. "I know it is. But Jared wouldn't want us to cry over him. He'd want us to get to a safe place." _

"_Yeah, I guess he would." Came Jamie's quiet reply. _

"_Well, lets go for a little drive and see what we can come up with." I whispered. He nodded and turned to look out the window._

_After almost two hours of silent driving, Jamie finally spoke. _

"_So where are we headed?" I could hear in his voice that he had been crying. _

_I cleared mine because I knew that I would sound the same. "Well we're headed towards Arizona."_

_He cocked his head to the side, making himself look like a confused puppy. "Why Arizona?" _

"_Well I think I've finally figured out that map on the back of the photo album." I explained. _

_He gave me a small smile and we took off towards the highway and ultimately towards out only hope for a future. _

No one spoke for a minute. Then Wanda broke the silence.

"You hit Jamie?" she asked incredulously. "_You_?"

"What are you trying to say? That I'm some weak little thing that isn't able to hurt a fly? Because seriously, I could kick your ass." I snapped.

She put her hands up in defense. "S-sorry. That's not what I was trying to say. I just meant that you guys just seem like you're closer than any brother and sister could be."

I sighed, "I know what you meant, and I'm sorry for being so rude. I'm just tired and confused and hurt and about a million other feelings all at once and it sucks."

"Well what happened after that?" Kyle asked.

"Jamie and I traveled early in the day and slept really late at night, and eventually we made it to Arizona. We took the Jeep as far as it could go and then we had to walk." I said.

"_Mel?" Jamie's parched voice croaked._

"_Yeah, Jamie?" I answered, my voice almost mimicking his._

"_Are you okay?" he asked hesitantly._

_I took a moment before answering, I thought about lying but knew that he would want me to tell him honestly. "No, Jamie. I'm really, really not okay." _

_He was silent for a moment. "I-I'm sorry you're hurting Mel."_

_I smiled down at the young teenage boy I was now solely responsible for and said, "It's not your fault Jamie. Don't blame yourself." _

"_I can't help it. I should have tried harder to make him stay." He looked so sad, it was breaking my heart._

Even picturing that face now broke my heart, I realized.

_After walking for six hours we found ourselves having no clue where we were, and in the dark. I suggested we sleep and Jamie agreed. We fell asleep quickly; Jamie's head on my stomach and his arms wrapped around my waist. _

_I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but I knew it would not be peaceful or happy. _

"Then the next morning Jeb found us and here we are now." I finished.

"That's so sad!" Wanda cried. "He's so young and he's blaming himself for his brother getting taken. It's just…really sad."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it is."

"Not the most interesting arrival story, not the most boring." Kyle said bluntly.

"Well thanks, Kyle. I feel as though that comment just welcomed me into the club." I said sarcastically.

He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's what that comment means."

After a few more minutes of light conversation, everyone decided it was time for bed.

"C'mon Jamie, let's go to bed." I suggested as a yawn emanated from him.

"M'kay." he said stumbling towards our new room.

"Good night everyone!" We called in unison.

They waved back and smiled, most getting up and following our lead.

After Jamie was asleep. I decided I needed to take another bath. I found a change of clothes, a pair of shorts and one of Jared's shirts. I lifted the shirt to my nose, and inhaled. Tears stung my eyes when I noticed that his scent was almost gone. I fought my tears, I was **so **sick of crying. I pulled my shirt over my head and sighed. I rubbed a hand over my stomach and let out yet another sigh.

A loud gasp followed. I turned around quickly and found myself standing directly across from Wanda.

"Oh-oh my gosh." she half whispered.

"Please Wanda, don't say anything." I said

"But Melanie!" she argued. "You're-you're…"

"Pregnant." I finished.

**A/N: And there you have it folks. Its not that long but whatever. I'm so sorry it took so long. I got a new job and it has literally taken up all my time. I work 7 days a week 8am to 8pm. **

**Anyway, let me know what you think! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Why do I feel like this is my quickest update? Oh and in chapter three I wrote that Melanie was 24 she is actually 20. Sorry for the mix up. **

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Host, I do however own the laptop I used to write this fanfic. **

**Wanda**

"Pregnant?" I asked. "As in, pregnant with a baby?"

She sighed, and rubbed her forehead, a motion which made me feel like a six year old again getting something explained to me for the twentieth time. "Yes, with a baby."

"Well…how far along are you?"

She thought for a moment. "We'll by my calculations I am at least four months along."

"Wow," I muttered stupidly. I had no idea what else to say.

"Yeah," she murmured back.

"Does anyone else know?" I asked.

"Jamie, of course, and Jeb and Doc."

I nodded, then suddenly I asked, "Wait, how old are you?"

"Um, twenty. Why?"

"I just wanted to know who the father was." I said.

"Jared is the father. Who else could have…Oh _**EW! WANDA!**_" she screeched.

I held back a chuckle from her reaction. "I'm sorry! Its just that you don't look very old and, ugh I don't know. I was just curious."

"Jamie is barely thirteen! Wanda! That's sick!" she complained.

"Again, I'm sorry."

She waved her hand. "Its alright. Wait, how old are _you?_"

"Twenty-four."

"Hmm, you look fairly young yourself. I would've guessed seventeen. Maybe nineteen." she teased back.

"Well thank you." I said with a laugh.

I didn't know what else to say anymore. We had run out of safe topics to discuss, and we weren't close enough to push the limits.

"I'll see you in the morning then." I said as I exited the bathroom completely forgetting the fact that I went in there to clean myself.

"Okay, goodnight." she said back.

~O~O~O~

It had been an entire month and Melanie had decided to tell everyone about her pregnancy. Everyone was elated at the fact that there would more humans in the world. Some people however, were a little worried about how a baby would affect the safety of the people in the caves. It's hard to keep a crying baby quiet when its necessary. But over all everything was going smoothly.

The two of us were currently sitting in the fields picking weeds in the lettuce crops. We were in the middle of laughing over some joke when Melanie gasped, placing a hand on her growing belly.

"He's kicking!" she cried excitedly.

"He, huh?" I teased pulling another weed.

She just playfully smacked me shoulder. "Do you want to feel?"

I hesitated for a moment. When would I ever get another chance like this again? Babies were a rarity in the caves.

My response was to place my hand on Mel's belly.

I waited for what seemed like forever and then I felt it. It was like someone was tapping on my palm really lightly.

"Wow!" I exclaimed.

Melanie was smiling proudly. "I think I have a future soccer player on my hands!"

We giggled and laughed for the rest of the afternoon until Jamie came in and told everyone that Jeb had called a meeting.

As everyone piled into the game room Mel and I sat and wondered what the meeting was about. I bet her my favorite blanket that it was about the next raid, she bet me her favorite book that it was about a new escape plan.

"Okay everyone," Jeb said in his 'I'm-in-charge' voice. "We are running dangerously low on supplies. We need a team to go on a raid."

"Ha! I was right!" I said excitedly.

Jeb glared at me for interrupting him. "As I was saying, we need a raid team. A good one, too. This is going to be a long raid, and we need lots of supplies."

"I'll go!" Kyle shouted from the back.

"Me too!" Andy said.

Several more people volunteered after that.

"Can I go?" Melanie asked. "I'm really good!"

"Melanie…I don't think that's such a good-" Jeb began.

"Jeb, I really need to get out of here for a while, okay?" she said. "And no harm would come to me, I'm innocent looking!"

Jeb contemplated her argument then sighed, "Okay, Mel. You can go."

"Thank you, Jeb!" she cried jumping up as best she could and hugged him.

"You guys leave in three days. Meeting adjourned."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked Melanie for the fifth time.

Melanie sighed, "Yes Wanda. I need to get out. My entire life I've been in the open and now being here all closed in its making me crazy!"

"As long as you're sure." I said.

"I am."

~O~O~O~

"Be safe alright?" Jamie said to Melanie as they hugged goodbye.

"Always," she said back. "I love you, Jamie."

"Love you too, sis."

"Wanda, take care of Jamie for me, okay?" she whispered as she hugged me.

"No problem." I said back with a broad smile.

She piled into the van with the five guys, smiled again and then they were off.

**Eons in the Stars**

"Okay class, today we will be discussing wild humans." I announced.

The class erupted with questions.

"Settle down, guys." I said. "Now as most of you know my host was a wild human."

At the mention of himself Jared started to stir in my mind. Ever since I got this teaching job three months ago, Jared has been fairly quiet.

"He had been living as a wild human since the invasion began." I started.

Many hands were raised, so I decided to answer a few questions.

"Yes, you in the red shirt." I called out.

She cleared her throat before speaking. "Were there more people traveling with your host?"

_Don't say anything!_

"Yes, there were at least two other people with him. One was his girlfriend, the other his younger brother."

Immediately questions were being thrown in my direction, along with shouting from Jared.

"Have they found them?"

_Shut up, you stupid parasite!_

"Are they dangerous?"

_How could you do that?_

"How did they survive?"

_Do you realize what you have just done to them?_

"What did they do for food?"

_You are going to kill them!_

"When did they realize that Souls were invading?"

I was taken aback momentarily. All of the questions and the shouting was making my head hurt. I clutched my head in my hands, trying to stop the throbbing pain that was taking place.

"Stop it! Just STOP!" I shouted.

Suddenly there was only silence. Even Jared had shut up.

I was shocked with myself. "I-I'm so sorry. I-I need to get out. I'm sorry." And with that I ran.

I was so out of it I ran straight past my apartment twice, and when I finally made it inside someone was there waiting for me.

"Gah!" I said, startled by the man sitting in a chair. "Blazing Trails, you startled me."

"I apologize, Eons in the Stars, but I needed to speak with you and I thought in person would be the best way."

I nodded. "What is it that you need to speak with me about?"

"Have you been able access anymore about your host?" he asked in a hard tone.

"No, not yet. My host's memories are very tightly protected. He truly loved his family."

_Loves, I'm still here. And I still love them._

"Eons in the Stars it has been months since we last heard from you." he told me, as if I didn't know this. "Perhaps it is time for you to try a new host body. This one is obviously is too difficult for you."

I was about to disagree with him, however I didn't get the chance because Blazing Trails spoke again.

"There is a place out in Arizona that can help you find a new host, better suited for you."

"I-I don't know…" I stuttered.

"Your Comforter and I have discussed it and we think that this is the best option for you."

_What will happen to me if you do this, huh? _Jared asked.

"What will become of my host if you do this?" I asked.

"Well I will be put into him for a time to see if we can get more information about the wild humans. When and if I get that information, your host will be properly disposed of." he explained.

_Disposed of? You parasites actually __**kill **__humans? That's sick! That is so wrong! And no way in hell would I want that asshole in me?_

"I'll consider it."

"What does that mean? You'll consider it? We don't have time for that. We need to know this information and soon. Our people are terrified of the humans and we don't know how many are out there!" he snapped. Then he regained his composure and spoke again. "Please, consider it, but I need your answer and soon."

He was almost out the door, and then I spoke. "I'll do it."

Blazing Trails turned around with an almost wicked smile on his face. "Really?"

I nodded, "But I have a few conditions."

He sighed and motioned for me to continue.

"I want to drive."

He looked surprised and then angry, then calm. "Fine, we'll drive."

"There is another condition. I want to drive _alone._"

~O~O~O~

It took a bit of persuading to get Blazing Trails to agree but he did. And now, a week later I was ready to make the fourteen hundred mile drive from Chicago to Salt Lake City. It would take me about a day of driving to arrive.

Jared was very, very angry with my choice. But I thought it was best for everyone.

I had to keep telling myself that.

This was best for everyone.

**A/N: So there you have it. As you may have noticed, Wanda is older than Melanie. I did this because technically, Wanda is WAYYY older than Melanie and everyone else in the caves. Sorry if there are any mistakes, I was in a hurry to get this out. I'm going out of town. :)**

**I hope you enjoyed. **

**Review please!**

**IMPORTANT: I have a poll on my profile for the gender of the baby. GO VOTE! Or I'm just going to flip a coin for it, and my way is much less fun.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Like it says in the summary, everything is switched. So Jamie is Jared's brother, and Melanie has two sisters that were taken. So I hope no one gets confused.**

**Disclaimer: I am not SM, therefore I don't own The Host or any recognizable characters. I do however own the original Woody, Buzz, and Jessie dolls. **

**Eons in the Stars**

"_Will you stop?" Melanie laughed as I playfully chased her around the cabin. We had only arrived a day ago, after stocking up for a month. _

_I collapsed on the ground and patted my open lap for Mel, she took the offer and fell into me._

"_I still can't believe that a place like this exists. It's so amazing!" she cried excitedly._

_I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yeah and it's completely off the map. There is no proof that this place actually exists. My father and I made it by hand. Jamie was too young to help, but he likes to think he did."_

_She rests her head on my shoulder and sighs. _

"_Thinking about your sisters?" I questioned gently. _

_She nods and looks up at me. "They would have loved you. In fact, they would have __**really**__ loved you." she laughs. _

"_I wouldn't have gone for them." I tell her._

"_No?"_

_I shake my head. "No, I like short brunettes. And from what you told me of them I don't think I would have looked twice at Kelsey or Laura."_

_She chuckles once again, "Oh come on! They were beautiful!"_

"_I don't doubt you. But after seeing you nothing else could be more beautiful." I tell her._

_Melanie blushes, something that is very out of character for her, and I kiss each of her cheeks. _

"_Jeez, don't you to ever do anything else besides kiss." Jamie complains as he walks into the room._

"_If you don't like it, then close your eyes." Mel says._

"_Or better yet, leave!" I jokingly call. Mel smacks my arm._

_She sighs, then snuggles into my chest. _

"_I love you." I tell her. She looks up at me and grins brightly. _

"_I love you, too."_

"I'm sorry, I have to do this Jared." I said out loud.

_You don't. _

"What other choice do I have? You will not cooperate with me, and this information is vital." I didn't even believe myself as I spoke these words.

_Okay, explain to me how it is vital. Please, justify the __**killing **__of billions of people to me. _

"You were too violent. You were killing your self's and each other." I sighed. "If you wish to see what we did as killing I cannot stop you. But we are saving you."

_You were only saving our bodies. But what is a body without a mind? Flesh? Organs? You replaced us with things that are not human, and you have the audacity to say that you saved us? Whether you like it or not you __**murdered **__us. _

His words were logical, and I was battling with myself on how I was to interpret them. Was I too see them as a Soul? Or was I to see it as a rational living thing?

_See them as I do. _

"I can't think when you are!" I said loudly. My words echoed in the very empty car, hurting my ears.

Now all I could focus on was what Jared said. I missed my exits twice because I was thinking so intensely. Was everything I had ever known a lie? How was I supposed to cope with this idea? Was this how all things we inhabited felt? Even the things that we thought to have no emotion, is this how they felt?

_Hey! Pay attention to the road! _

I snapped out of it and noticed that I was now in the middle of the empty road.

"Sorry." I apologized, quickly getting back into the correct lane. _S'okay. _

We were silent for the next hour, then I was distracted again. This time however it was Jared who distracted me.

"_Jared?" I heard Jamie ask from behind me. I turned around from my place in front of the fire place. _

"_Yeah?" I responded. _

"_Are you going to be like mom and dad?" he asked timidly._

_I shook my head. "Never. I'll always be me." We both knew that I couldn't keep this promise. It was just that fact that I had said it made us both feel a little better about me leaving. _

_Two days ago, we were on a raid when Jamie noticed that there was a woman who looked exactly like our cousin Sharon on the local news._

"_Look Jared! She looks just like her." Jamie said excitedly. _

_I chuckled a little. "Jamie you are aware that it very well could be her, right?"_

_Mel chuckled from beside me. _

"_No, no, no! Look at her eyes, she looks way to scared to be out in public." he pointed out._

_Mel squinted her eyes and looked closely as the quickly fading image of my could be long lost cousin. "Jared, he has a point. She does look a little too frightened to be a soul." _

"_Its her right!" Jamie said. _

_I nodded, "It really does look like her." _

"_How amazing would it be if we found her!" Melanie said to me excitedly._

"_It really would be amazing." I replied. "But it would also be very dangerous."_

_I was really starting to think about it, if we found her she might be able to help us solve the cryptic message from Jeb. _

_They nodded in agreement. I was getting even more confident about _

"_Okay, well lets figure out how to find her." _

_Hey! EYES ON THE ROAD! You're going to get us killed! _Jared yelled.

"Well then stop distracting me!" I snapped back. The reaction was unfamiliar to me still. I didn't like being rude. We were silent for a long time after that. I looked at the map, noticing that the next thing that was going to come up was a ranch.

_Please, I'm asking you again. Don't do this. _Jared says ten minutes before we reach the ranch.

"Where will I go if I don't? I can't go back, the Seeker will look for me and would coerce me into taking you again."

He was silent for a minute, then he spoke. _You could go find Melanie and Jamie. _

"Are you serious?" I shout. "They would kill me! They won't believe me if I say that you're still alive! They would kill me faster!"

_I know how your mind works, I can tell that you don't want to get rid of me anymore. And if you don't, then the Seeker will come after you. We have no place else to go. If they kill us, then they kill us. But it seems to me that our only option. _

Great. Our only option was to try and find the people most likely to kill me.

Fantastic.

**Wanda**

The raiders had been gone for over six weeks and everyone was starting to get a little antsy. This was one of the longest raids anyone had been on since we all arrived in the caves. Raids usually only last three to four weeks but we were extraordinarily low on supplies.

I was mainly worried and Melanie. She was really unstable when she left. Oh, but not only was she unstable but she was pregnant!

Ever since I heard about her pregnancy, I began thinking about my own life.

When the world was still only human I was always thinking about love, and my future.

I it was only Kyle, my parents and me. It was great, but I always wanted a big family. It was my goal in life to settle down and have a dozen kids. But those dreams were no longer in the cards for me. Now my goal in life is to stay alive, and try and keep the people I care about alive too.

That was every humans goal in life now.

There was a sudden knock on my door, that startled me out of my thinking. It was Jeb.

"Hey Wanda, we have a situation that we need help with. Could you come with me please"

"Sure, Jeb." I said, getting up off my bed and following him out the door.

He led me to the game room, where a crowd of people had gathered.

"So what's up?" I asked him.

"Just follow me." he replied, moving through the small crowd.

He stopped in the middle and sighed, looking down.

"Jeb, seriously! What is the problem?" I asked, getting frustrated.

He pointed to the floor. "This is."

I followed his hand and gasped.

"Is that who I think it is?" I cry.

"Yep."

Crap.

**A/N: DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE POLL! And you can thank the flu for this chapter. Seriously, I feel like crap and I'm hoping the chapter doesn't reflect that. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: ATTENTION! Final notice on the poll, and as of now its tied. So please, please, PLEASE vote on it, I'm keeping it up for one more week and if its still a tie I'm gonna have to flip a coin. This chapter is not super long, but I already have a plan and layout for the next chapter, you might even get it before next week.**

**That is all.**

**Enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Host, however I do own all three Toy Story movies. **

**Eons In the Stars**

_Are you sure you know where you are? _Jared asked for the eightieth time.

"Yes, I know where I am, and where I'm going." I answered.

Jared sighed. _Can we discuss something?_

"I don't see why you felt the need to ask. You know that you are going to do as you please." I said, with a somewhat annoyed tone that surprised even me.

_A couple of hours outside of Salt Lake City is my childhood home. I'd like to visit it before you take me to die. _

I thought about his request for a moment. What harm could come from going to visit his old home. Of course it would mean that I would be late for my meeting with the Seeker. Oh well.

_Does that mean you'll go?_

"Yes, I guess it's the least I could do for you."

_No, the least you could do for me would be to let me go. _

I ignored that last comment.

_The town is in the Sonaran Desert. _

"I am not very familiar with the geography in this part of the country." I remind him.

_Just drive towards Arizona. _

"Exactly how far into Arizona do we need to go?" I questioned.

_Not that far. _

"Okay, well when we get there you do know that I am going to need more specific directions, right?"

_Yep. _

"Jared, seriously. Can't you just tell me where we are going? I don't really care for these step by step directions. It would just be easier to tell me where we are going to end up."

_You just need to relax. We only need to travel for a couple more hours. _

"A couple of HOURS? You said that's how long it was going to take!"

_Just relax. I think you'll really like it when we get there. I know I will. _

"Well at least you know where _there_ is!" I said back.

_Whoa, easy there tiger. We'll get there eventually. _

I resisted the urge to growl. Jared was making me hostile, and I didn't like this feeling.

We drove another three hours. Jared gave me turn by turn directions.

"Please tell me we are close." I begged. I was tired and getting hot, even with the air conditioner blowing in my face.

_We will be there soon, now stop complaining. _

"How long is soon?"

_Soon means soon. Now shut up and pay attention to the road. You are making me a terrible driver. _

"Jared, we have been driving for almost seven hours! You said it was only going to take a couple. In my experience a couple means two or three. Not SEVEN!"

_Its going to be another three or four hours at least. _

"WHAT?" I cried. "You said this was only going to take a few hours! You said-"

_I know what I said, okay! But if I had told you how long it was really going to take you would have never agreed to take me! _

"I am turning around and going to meet the Seeker like originally planned!" I exclaimed.

_And what exactly are you going to tell the Seeker? Hmm? That your Host managed to trick you into driving eight hours out of your way to take him home one last time? You might as well finish the trip before going back and telling them that you got tricked. _

"You…you…bad person!" I said.

_Yeah, yeah. I know. _I'm _the bad person in this situation. Sure. Take this next exit. And you might want to _

_get gas at the next station. Its going to be mostly desert from here on out. _

"Fantastic." I muttered. Jared laughed.

When I finally made my way to the next gas station I saw, Jared told me to grab water and Powerbars.

I went to grab three, but Jared stopped me.

_You are going to need the whole box. And at least another two gallons of water. _

"Why on Earth would I need that much?" I asked out loud, forgetting that I was in public. I think the cashier gave me a funny look.

_Trust me, you are going to thank me later. _

I just shrugged my shoulders and grabbed the box of Powerbars and another two gallons of water in addition to the one I already had.

"Will this be all?" The man behind the counter asked.

"Yes, sir." I responded.

_I still think its weird that you guys don't pay for anything. _Jared said.

_We pay for everything with community service and helping others._

_Still, I find it odd. _

Five minutes and a full tank of gas later we were on the road again.

"Now where am I supposed to go?" I asked. We were currently in the middle of the desert just driving down a deserted road.

_There is no where is to go but forward. _He said like I was some sort of moron.

"I am aware of that." I said in an annoyed voice. The more time I spent alone with Jared the worse my attitude became.

_That seems like a problem of _yours.

I went back to being completely silent until I drove up to a stop sign. I could either continue to drive forward for God only knows how long, or I could turn into, _wait _did that sign say _Howe Ranch? _

"Your family owns a ranch?" I asked quietly.

_Used to. _He replied. _I don't know that any of them are here anymore. _

"Then why on Earth are we here?" I cried. "You made me drive for hours and hours just to come and see a ranch that may or may not even belong to your family anymore?"

He didn't respond for a moment. As if he were carefully choosing his words. _I wasn't exactly truthful in my reasoning to come down here. _

"I don't even know what to say to that." I said, my tone completely dumbstruck.

_I needed to know that you cared enough about my family and myself to do something very important. _

"Why am I worried about what you are going to ask me?"

_I think I know where Mel and Jamie are. _

I sucked in a quick breath. "Why are you telling me this? You know what I am obligated to do with that information when you tell me."

I was parked on the side of the road, my hands tightly gripping the steering wheel.

_Just drive forward. _

I don't know why I listened to him, but I did. Why did he have to tell me where they were? I didn't want to tell the Seeker where to find my-his family.

_You don't have to. _He told me.

"Yes I do. I am obligated to. It is my duty as a Soul to tell the Seekers where to find rogue humans."

_Don't you see how brainwashed they have you? You are not OBLIGATED to do anything. You are your own person. Well, that's not the best way to put it but you get what I'm saying, right?_

"No, not really."

_You should be able to make your own choices. Not worry about what the Seeker or anyone else would want you to do. _

"That doesn't seem natural." I said honestly.

He sighed. _That is the point I am trying to make to you! It should be very natural! _

"Will you please just tell me what I have to do?"

_You probably won't like it._"Just tell me, please." I almost begged.

_We need to go find the humans._

**A/N: Well there you have it! I am going to start writing the next chapter right after I post this one. And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ****vote on the poll. Seriously, its tied and that is not good. It is only going to be up until the 1/5/10 (unless I forget to take it down) so please vote for the gender you would like to see Mel and Jared have. **

**Leave me some love and you might get the next chapter on the same day the poll goes down. **


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you all voted on the poll, there is a new unevenness that gives me the sex of the baby.**

**I wanted to get this out as fast as possible for you guys. Sorry if there are any mistakes. **

**So, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Host, but I do own a stuffed frog backpack named Milton.**

**Eons in the Stars**

"You have got to be kidding me!" I yelled within the confines of the car. "They would kill us, no, they would torture us then kill us! There is no way I am doing this! NO WAY!"

_Just hear me out, okay? You are not happy in your society and this is a way for you to break out and do what you want and know is right._

"How is getting myself killed and betraying my race, doing what's right?" I argued.

_If we find them, I get the closure I need and you get the freedom you know you need._

"I do not need freedom! I am happy with my life, okay? Your attempts to change my mind are not working so please stop. I am going to turn around and go to Salt Lake City like I was supposed to in the first place."

_This is a one way road. You have to continue to drive forward for at least another three miles before you can turn onto another road and go back the way you came._

"Of course, because just turning around would be too easy." I said sarcastically.

_Hey cool it with the attitude. You are starting to remind me of…_

"Who?" I asked when he didn't finish his sentence.

_Mel. _

"What was she like? You haven't really let me see all that much of either her or Jamie."

_There was a reason for that you know. _He informed me. _I needed to protect them and I failed. _

"You haven't failed, actually. They have not found any other human since you." I said.

_Yeah, that doesn't make me feel like a failure. The Seekers were able to catch me. _

His words made me think about his capture. "Why did you jump down that shaft? Surely death was not better than being captured."

He gave a short laugh that sounded more like a snort. _Death is a far better option. Look at where I am now. Trapped in my own head, watching my body move but having no control over the movements. This is like being in prison. But even prisoners have ability to move and control over themselves. _

"I wasn't aware that was how you felt."

He didn't respond. But I was still curious about Melanie. From the few memories that Jared had actually shared with me I knew that she was extremely beautiful and had a great sense of humor.

_She was more than just that though. Don't get me wrong, she was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen, but it wasn't just her beauty that makes me love her. It was her personality in general. She was funny when we needed a light moment and serious when we needed someone to keep Jamie and I in line. _

From the way Jared was talking about her it seemed like his world revolved around her.

_My world did-does revolve around her. It was only about her and Jamie. I didn't even say goodbye to them._

This statement confused me. Jared didn't say anything to clear up my confusion, instead he showed me what her meant.

_It was the night before I was to leave for my search for Sharon. We had all fallen asleep in the bedroom. Jamie decided that he wanted to be close to us for the night, so he set up a little bed out of the couch cushions. He was snoring softly, and occasionally shifting in his sleep. Mel's head was laying on my chest and I was playing with her hair. We hadn't really spoken for hours. We just lay there together in content silence. I was drifting off to sleep when Mel suddenly spoke up, softly._

"_Maybe you shouldn't go." _

"_What?" I asked, really confused at her sudden announcement._

_She didn't speak for a moment. "Well, I've been thinking about this all day. And I just don't know if you going alone is the best idea. What if something were to happen to you? You would be all alone with no one to help you. And what-"_

_I stopped her before she could continue with her nervous questioning. "Mel, you need to relax. I will be fine." _

"_You can't promise that." _

"_Actually, I can. And I promise to make my way back to you and Jamie." I said strongly. I knew in my heart that I couldn't promise this for sure. But I needed to find a way to reassure her and this seemed to be the only way. "You know I never break my promises." _

_She didn't reply immediately, instead she just snuggled father into my chest then she already was and whispered an almost silent "Wake me up before you leave please."_

_I just nodded slowly. "I love you."_

_She yawned, "I love you, too"_

_The next morning, I tried my damned best to not jostle Mel and I was successful. I got my already packed bag and set it near the door. I sighed as I looked around the place that had become my home. This would be the last time I ever saw it if our trip went on without flaw. Mel and Jamie would meet me in Chicago in two weeks and then if I had found Sharon we would go and find my aunt and uncle together, the four of us. I sighed, yet again and went back into the room. I had moved Jamie into my now unoccupied place on the bed after I had gotten up. I went over to him first. _

"_I love you, kid." I whispered. I knew he couldn't hear me, but I needed to say it to him before I left. I then moved over to Mel and just stared at her for a moment. _

_I bent down and kissed her head gently. "I love you, baby. Take care of yourself and the kid." She too, couldn't hear me, yet I still needed to tell her I loved her before I went. _

_I stood in the doorway for ten beats of my heart before I could tear myself away from the two people who meant the world to me. _

_I sat in the car with my hands on the steering wheel, second guessing my idiotic plan. Before I could change my mind about my trip, I started the engine and drove away from my home and the people who held my heart. _

I was too stunned to speak, so Jared and I said nothing to each other for a long time.

"If you were second guessing yourself, why did you leave?" I asked out of the blue.

_I really thought that Sharon was out there. And there is safety in numbers. You should know that. _

"Do you regret leaving them?" I already knew the answer, yet I felt compelled to ask him anyway.

_Every day. I could be with them right now, protecting them, loving them, just be with them. _

"Do you regret meeting Melanie?"

_Never. _He snapped. _I would never regret meeting her._

"Even though it meant having another person to worry about and feed? Didn't you have a hard enough time looking out for yourself and Jamie?"

_When you put it like that, the answer you would expect would be yes I regret it. But no, I don't regret meeting her even though it meant having another person to worry about. _

"You really love her?"

_Yes, with all my heart. I would take a bullet for her, kill for her, and jump down an elevator shaft for her. Same goes for Jamie. _

I thought about what he just told me. Did I have anyone that I felt that strongly for? Would I die for someone? I knew the answer. No. What did I have to stick around for? Nothing.

_Does that mean what I think it means?_

"Are you sure you know where your family is?"

_I have a very, very good idea. _

"I guess we are going to go on that then."

_You are just kidding with me right?_

"No. We are going to find your family."

**A/N: Yay! I actually did an update when I said I would! I'm gonna go close the poll now. You'll find out the results in the coming chapters. Please review and I'll work on getting the next chapter out in either next week or the week after depending on my urge to write. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N : So sorry for the long wait. This chapter is longer than the others have been, so maybe I don't suck so bad :) After this we should get into caves and have some fun with these characters. **

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Host, I do own a new iPod I proudly named Salvador Dali. **

**Eons In the Stars**

"We passed the Ranch almost three hours ago. I still can't see a mountain range."

_For the eightieth time, its not going to look like a normal mountain range. It's just a very large peak, that _resembles_ a mountain. _

"Either way, I still can't see it. All I can see is desert. In fact, that's all I've see for the past couple of hours."

_Will you quit complaining? Please, just shut up! All I have heard you do is complain since we got in the car. We should be coming up on it in a little while. _

"Hopefully soon, we only have about an eighth of a tank left!" My voice was becoming panicked. How far would we have to walk to find a gas station? I hadn't seen anyone in many hours, and it was becoming dark.

_You know we are going to have to walk a lot, right? This is only the beginning. _

"_What?_" I whined.

_Stop that! You are making me sound like a girl. Once we find the Peak, we are going to have to walk. This is the first step. I think._

"Wait, what do you mean you think?" I questioned. "You don't know for sure where we are going? Do you even have a real plan for this, or are you just winging it?"

_I have a vague idea of where we need to be. My Uncle Jeb told me how to get there many, many years ago. And on the back of a photo album he carved a map. _

"Where is this map?"

_With Jamie and Mel. They have it just in case something were to happen to me, and lo and behold something did happen. Now, they can find their way without me. _

I let his words sink in a bit before I decided to reply. "So you really believe that they are there? That they made this horrendously long, and confusing journey without you?"

_I have to believe it. It's the only thing that has kept me going this far._

"Jared, you aren't being rational. What if by some miracle, we do make it there. And once we arrive we find out that Melanie and Jamie never made it? What will you do when this entire journey kills us both?"

_I will be grateful to you for taking me there. And grateful for the bullet Jeb will surely put in my head. _

"You will be grateful for being murdered?" I asked with a slight tremble in my voice.

_Yes._

"Jared, I cannot even begin to describe to you how horrid of an answer that was. Death is not something to look forward to. You should be fighting against it with everything you have."_You souls claim to be smart, right? _

"Yes, we have a vast array of intelligence. I don't see how that has anything to do with what we were previously discussing."

_If you are so intelligent then why have you not yet fully understood my love for them? _

"How does this have to do with our death? You're right Jared, I don't understand but its not about your love."

_If they didn't make it, if they…died, or were captured. I don't want to live. I will gladly die, or give myself up to you. But there is no way in Hell that I will just live with the knowledge that I have failed in the one duty I had left in this world._

"You think it is your sole duty to protect them?" I asked, slightly confused.

_Yes. _

"What about yourself? You focused so hard on protecting them, you failed to protect yourself." The words just slipped out of my mouth. I didn't realize what I was truly saying. If Jared had put all of his effort into protecting himself then I wouldn't be in his body.

_So? As long as they are alive then it doesn't matter what happened to me. _

"For them it will."

He didn't respond right away, or at all for that matter. At least not until we ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere.

_Okay, it looks like we're hoofin' it from here on out. _

"Don't remind me. This is going to be torture." I moaned.

_Would you stop that? Jeez. If you had worked out and eaten better this trip wouldn't be so hard. But you didn't, so I don't want to hear any complaining. _

"What are you talking about? I still have a six-pack and some pretty thick arms." I said, not completely understanding my tone.

Jared gave a slight chuckle in response. _You are going to have to carry all of the water in your pack, and the two gallons in your arms. _

"Why can't I leave some of it here? Do you really think I'm going to need to carry eight gallons of water? It's going to slow us down."

_You know what's really going to slow us down? You being dead. _

"Fine. I will carry the ton of water around."

_You'll thank me when we're not dead. _

"If you say so."

Six hours, and six bottles of water later I fell to my knees in exhaustion.

"Jared," I panted. "Jared please tell me we are getting close. Please give me some reason to get back up."

_How about I give you one in the morning. Its getting dark, and if we continue in the dark we will just get lost. So get comfortable, its gonna be a long and cold night. _

"Cold? We are in the desert, shouldn't it stay warm?"

_Nope. It's going to get cold, so buck up cowboy. Tonight's going to be rough. _

Rough didn't even being to cover it. I was paranoid about bugs and animals coming out and attacking me.

_If I could, I would punch myself in the face for that thought._

"Sh-sh-shut up, J-Jared." I stuttered through the cold.

_We wouldn't be so cold if you have brought the blanket like I said you should._

"W-What do you mean w-we. I-I'm the one f-freezing. You a-are nice and w-warm in m-my head."

_I feel everything you do. I can hear everything you hear. We are one and the same. _

"You and I a-are completely d-different p-people." I stuttered.

_Whatever you say. But as long as you are in me, we feel, and see, and touch the same way. _

I didn't respond to him. I didn't _have_ any way to respond. He was right.

To distract me from the cold, Jared showed me another one of his precious memories. It was inconsequential, there was no significance to it, just a sweetness that made me smile.

"_Jared, she's going to find out." Jamie whispered with a worried tone in his voice. _

"_Jamie, she is only going to find out if you tell her. And you won't tell her, will you?" I asked. _

_He shifted nervously. "She scares me when she gets mad. And once she finds out we didn't do laundry, but played soccer she's gonna get really mad." _

"_She's going for a run, and won't be back for about an hour. We can play a quick game and do the laundry before she even gets back. Now go get the ball and lets play." I told him. Jamie nervously bounced on the balls of his feet before nodding his head and running to the closet to grab the soccer ball._

"_I'll race you to the yard." I teased before racing towards the yard with a head start. _

"_Hey!" he complained with a laugh. "Not fair!" _

_Before I could get in front of our makeshift goal, Jamie successfully kicked the ball into it. _

"_Cheater!" I called playfully. _

_After a while we were tied. "Okay, next goal wins." I said. Jamie nodded. _

_I had already made two futile attempts at Jamie's goal, when out of nowhere Mel jumps out of the bushes and steals the ball from in between my legs and races for my goal. With one hard kick she makes it, effectively winning the game for Jamie. _

_While Jamie celebrates Mel jumps onto my back and laughs. "Ha ha Sucker! We win." _

"_Wait," I say "Did you plan this?" _

"_Nope. I just saw you guys playing when I got back from my run and thought I'd ambush you." she joked. _

"_Well you succeeded." I laughed, turning my head and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "How was your run?"_

"_Good. I'm getting a lot faster. I could easily outrun a parasite now." she said with excitement. _

_Jamie ran to the cabin and stopped dead in his tracks when he got to the door. "Um, Jared." _

"_Yeah?" I asked. "What's up."He nervously laughed. "Guess what we forgot to do?" _

_Crap._

_I felt Mel jump off my back and stalk towards the cabin. When she reached Jamie, I turned quickly and began running towards the trees. _

"_Jared Howe! Get back here!" I heard her yell. "If I can outrun a parasite I can sure as hell outrun you, you old fart!" _

_I just laughed, and in that moment of weakness she managed to tackle me to the grass. After a moment to catch my breath, I negotiated myself onto my back._

"_Jeez, Mel" I laughed, "Are you really that upset about the laundry that you felt the need to tackle me?" _

_She chuckled, "I'm not upset. Far from it. I just wanted a reason to be on top of you." _

_I growled and flipped us over, removing my shirt in the process. Mel let out a squeal of delight and did the same, just as I was…_

The memory abruptly stopped. "What happened after that?" I asked, a slight whine to my voice.

_It gets a little…inappropriate. Especially for your innocent little soul eyes. _

I could feel myself blush at his response.

_See? Too inappropriate. _

I could see dawn breaking, and so did Jared.

_Its time to get up. Count the waters, and the granola bars so we can plan out how much we can eat and drink today._

I opened the backpack and saw that there was only seven bottles of water and the two gallons. There were only twelve bars left. Hopefully that would last us the day. But I was doubtful. And so was Jared it appeared.

_You just need to pace yourself. I don't think it will be that much longer, but you never know for sure._

As the hours passed it became more and more apparent that Jared wasn't completely sure how long this would take. I was on my last gallon of water and last five granola bars and we were both becoming worried. It felt like we were going in circles. I was on the verge of giving up, and just letting us die when I saw Jamie and Melanie smiling at me behind my eyelids. I forced myself to take ten more steps, then another ten, then another ten before I felt that extremely strong urge to take a drink. So I did. But water hitting my empty stomach made me hungry. So I ate a couple of bars.

_Slow down, you are going to run out of supplies. _

I ignored him and drank more water. And then more. Before I knew it, I was looking at an almost empty bottle of water. My last bottle of water.

_You have got to keep moving. Forget about your hunger or thirst. Just keep moving your legs. One step at a time. We will make it. But you have got to keep moving! _He was begging. Pleading with me to move forward. But I didn't have the energy.

_Jamie and Mel could be out there somewhere, and I need to know that they are okay. Damn it, I need to know that they are okay! _

"I'm sorry Jared." I whispered hoarsely, sinking to my knees. "I can't do it. I'm so, so sorry."

He didn't speak, yet I heard a voice.

"Well now, here's a pickle."

**A/N: Again, so sorry. Finals have kicked my ass. Hardcore. But I'm done with them now. Leave me a review please. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Host, I do however own an iPhone 4s. (I read FanFiction constantly on it.)**

**Eons in the Stars**

"Uncle Jeb?" Jared spoke out through my lips. "You found us." All exhaustion was forgotten, for Jared at least. He was immediately alert and excited. I however was still suffering from the physical effects of our journey. The only emotion I held was weariness. From Jared's outburst through my body, and for the hovering nature of this new person.

"What is your name?" The gruff voice of Jeb asked. "Or are you still using my nephew's?"

"Eons in the Stars." I was the one to speak now. Jared's ability to do so had long since past.

"Eons in the Stars, eh?" From my view on the ground and the obstruction of view created by his beard, I couldn't tell if her was smiling or frowning. Maybe a mixture of both. "Well, I'll be back. I've left you my canteen. Make sure you don't drink it too fast. It's gonna be a while before I return."

With that, he spun on his heels, kicking dust into my face and he disappeared into the sunlight. I passed out a few minutes later.

When I awoke, I wasn't sure if Jeb's visit was even real. It wasn't until I turned my head and saw that canteen did I realize that not only was it real, but he was coming back. At least that's what he said.

_He'll be back. I'm sure of it. Now shut up and drink that water. _

I followed Jared's instructions and gulped down the water. A little too fast for his liking, but ultimately we were both satisfied. Well we were until the water fell into our empty stomach, making a loud, uncomfortable gurgling noise. During the next couple of hours, I drifted in and out of sleep while we waited. Waited for Jeb, or death. Whichever came first.

Finally, there was noise other than my breathing and the occasional bird call. It came in the form of a small group of people. My breath caught when they came into my view. I rolled onto my back, relieving the pressure from my shoulder. When I noticed them all stalking towards me, I sat up; my body shaking with the effort. I was frantically looking around all of their faces. None of which were Jamie or Melanie and none seemed to pleased to see me. In total there were four of them. One woman and three men, including Jeb who was leading the pack.

"What have you done, Jeb." A female voice hissed. "It knows there are more of us out here now. There could be dozens of 'em waitin' for us to show our face." When the woman stopped talking Jared informed me that it was his stubborn Aunt Maggie.

"Now Magnolia, I watched him for hours. He's been out here by himself just layin' there. Parasites aren't cruel enough to let one of their own suffer just to see if some humans might show up."

Jared's aunt made a grumbling noise, "I still don't like this Jebidiah. He could be a Seeker, sent to find us. For all we know, he has a tracking device. Or a remote that he can use to tell the others of his location."

Jeb smiled wryly at Maggie. "It it will make you feel better; Wes and Brandt will pat him down." He nodded at the two men I assumed were Brandt and Wes who then started towards me.

"Don't get any wise ideas, parasite." The larger of the two hissed at me. I was then roughly pulled up by that same person. It didn't matter though, he wasn't able to hold me up, and I was so weak I could hold myself up either. "He's too big, Jeb."

_Damn right I'm too big. _Jared retorted smugly.

_Not the time. _I chastised.

"Brandt. Help Wes hold him up. I will pat him down." Jeb said. The shorter of the two nodded. I guess he was Brandt. The other one, who I assumed was Wes held me up by my left arm, while Brandt took my right. Jeb gave me an apologetic look before he began patting my arms, legs, and torso.

_What's he looking for? _I asked Jared.

_Weapons, a tracking device, anything that might look like something a Seeker would carry. Hell, anything that looked like it was made before 1995. _He replied. _You need to look trustworthy, or else they will never tell us anything about Jamie and Melanie. _

_All Souls are trustworthy. That is our nature. _I replied.

_Yeah, well not to them. You are the enemy. They don't like you already. That isn't going to work in our favor. So just stay quiet. Uncle Jeb seems to be the only one who can treat us fairly. As soon as we get him alone, you need to ask him about Mel and Jamie. _He said.

"He's clean." Jeb announced. "Nothin' on him. Not even a pocket knife. Are you satisfied Magnolia?"

Maggie just glared at him. "So what do ya plan on doin' with him, Jebidiah? You aren't bringin' him back with us. I don't care if he is in our nephew's body."

"That's exactly what I plan on doin'." Jeb said with an air of confidence. "I, unlike some people, still have a heart. There is no way I'm lettin' him starve to death out in the open. If someone finds him it will raise suspicion. Not to mention its down right cruel. Anybody that's got a problem with him coming can stay out here in his place."

No one argued. It gave me the idea that Jeb was in charge.

_How fitting. _Jared mused.

Jeb wasn't done giving orders yet, "Brandt and Wes, I'm gonna need you to carry our new guest back with us. He's too weak to walk on his own." Jeb and Maggie began walking back towards the direction that they came.

"Quit saying 'he' Jeb. It isn't a person. It's a filthy body snatcher." Brandt snapped, before grabbing more firmly on my arm and following them; my feet dragging behind me.

Everyone walked in silence. Including Jared. Then I heard Maggie speak to Jeb in hushed whispers, I could only make out part of what they were saying.

"You aren't gonna tell them, are ya?"

"Yes, I do." Came his gruff reply. "They deserve to know, Magnolia. It wouldn't be right to hide it from 'em"

I was too tired to contemplate that for now. The rest of the walk seemed to take forever. Neither Wes nor Brandt were kind with their assisting me. I managed to limp along with the two guys, But if I stumbled they merely dragged me along. I have no idea how long our journey took, I have a feeling that they took me around in circles for a while, trying to confuse me into our location.

_It's the smart thing to do. _Jared noted. It was the first he had spoken in a while. _It's what I would have done. If by chance you escape, it would take you much longer to get your bearings. _

I didn't respond.

Finally, we came upon a raised mass in the ground. Jeb led the group towards a hidden opening. Maggie lowered herself to the ground first. She slid easily into the opening and disappeared into the ground. Brandt and Wes shoved me forward, so I guess it was my turn. Slowly I moved myself to the ground, and peered into the hole. It was pretty dark, most of my body was covering the light. From what I could see, the ground was about four feet down.

Suddenly I wasn't just looking at the ground, but falling towards it. I threw my arms out to catch my fall, but it was no use. The left side of my face took most of the impact, and I think I sprained my right wrist trying to catch myself. I heard Jeb curse above me. He then scolded Brandt for pushing me. I hesitantly touched the side of my face, it stung when my fingers made contact. I pulled my hand back to survey the damage, and found my hand covered in blood.

I then promptly passed out.

**Wanda**

When Jeb pulled me away, I was originally expecting him to tell me that the raiders had arrived back. Then, when I saw the strange look in his eyes, I assumed there was an accident and someone wasn't coming home. I was already planning on worst case scenario, when Jeb pointed out the body on the floor.

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Yep."

"Oh, god! Jeb, what are we going to do? Melanie can't see him! Jamie sure as heck can't see him! They will both lose it, and they are barely hanging on as it is." I cried. "Jeb, what is he doing here?"

"Wanda, calm down, honey." Jeb tried to soothe me. "This is my nephew, I couldn't just let him die."

I paced back and forth, trying to think of something that would calm me down. Nope. Nothing.

"Why is he bleeding?" I suddenly asked. His face was covered in blood.

"Brandt got a little impatient when our friend here was getting through the opening. He gave the guy a shove, and he fell face first." I admit, I flinched a little while Jeb recapped the story. That didn't sound good at all. "Do you think you could clean him up for me? Doc will be down shortly, but I think he could be cleaned up a little before he gets here."

I nodded, then told Jeb I would need to go get some water and a cloth. Jeb told me he was staying put to guard Jared, or whoever this person-thing was now. It took me a while to find a clean cloth, and then even longer to get into the bath cave. Everyone seemed to be in there, talking about our new guest. Once I finally made it out of there, I worried that he would be conscious.

My worries were in vain though, because when I got back he was still sound asleep. Jeb was just sitting in the entryway to the storage room, shotgun in his lap. He gave me a smile and a nod. I crept toward the stranger and slowly sat down next to him.

I started by placing his head in my lap. After dipping the cloth into water several times, I gently dragged it across his forehead. There was minimal damage on that part of his face. However, when I dabbed at the left side, I saw that it was completely scratched up. He was wincing, even while unconscious. It took me a while, but finally I got his face cleaned up. He was quite the looker. Strong, chiseled jaw, thick manly eyebrows, and full lips. I touched a finger to his bottom lip, and gradually traced them both.

"He all cleaned up?" Jeb's asked from his place at the entrance.

"Yeah," I replied quietly. "He's all good now."

"Still breathin'?"

I gave a small chuckle, "Yes, he is still breathing."

I stood from my spot, and walked over to Jeb. "What are you going to do about Jamie and Melanie? Jamie is here, I heard everyone talking about Jared in the baths. He's going to find out soon if he hasn't already. Oh, and Mel will be back any day now and then she will know. She's in a delicate condition, this could do some serious damage. Not to mention, everyone here probably is terrified of him, or hates his guts." I took a much needed breath after I finished my rant.

I expected Jeb to be insulted that I was questioning his decision, instead I found him to be smiling knowingly. "Don't worry, Wanda. Everything will be all right. Oh, and by the way, his name is Eons in the Stars."

"Huh?"

"My name is Eons in the Stars." A voice croaked from behind me.

I spun around to face the parasite that invaded my best friend's boyfriend's body. A body, I might add, that screamed perfection. His eyes, although rimmed with silver, were kind and bright with curiosity and a touch of fear. That jaw was even more defined when he was awake, if that was possible. His voice, although parched, was deep and forceful. Even though his tone was soft and kind. I felt my heart give a twist, he was beautiful.

"Where is Melanie, where is Jamie? Are they okay? Are they here?" This time his voice was drenched in concern.

"No." I found myself answering. He might be beautiful, but I still had people to protect.

His face fell, his eyes turned dark, and then they went dead. No emotion filled his scarred face, or his once bright eyes. He then turned away from us, and curled up against the far wall.

"Jeb!" Someone called. "They're back!"

This already bad situation, was about to get a lot worse.

**Hello my lovelies, I hope everyone is well. No excuses for the lack of an update. Just many, many apologies. I also apologize for any mistakes. I am still without a beta. (Pretty much for a lack of looking).**

**By the way, is anyone else completely fangirling over everything Host related? God, Max Irons is gorgeous. **

**Leave me some love, preferably in the form of a review, but I'm flexible if you have any other suggestions. **


	13. Chapter 13

**I am so sorry for how long it's taken to update. It's been a rough couple of months, but all is well now. All mistakes are my own, and I sincerely apologize in advance for them.**

**I don't own The Host, however I do own a sixth month supply of mac and cheese.**

**Melanie**

"I am so excited to see Jamie, and to just lay in bed for a month." I said to the boys. It was a rough couple of weeks; living in two trucks with five men, and being sixth months pregnant. The first week I wept myself to sleep, much to the chagrin of the aforementioned men. Living like that, in such close quarters and raiding each day had just been too much, and I wasn't expecting the intense feelings of deja vu I felt. By the second week, I regained my bearings and we finished off the raid successfully.

"I'm excited to take a bath and just sleep." Kyle murmured, expertly navigating through the desert terrain.

Andy nodded in agreement. We were three miles from home, and counting down the seconds. I couldn't wait to just give Jamie a hug and then nap for sixteen hours. I had been dreaming about doing so for days.

Wes pointed out the drop off zone to me, and I began to almost cry with relief. We were almost home, almost to Jamie!

"I'm surprised Jeb isn't out to greet us. Normally, the sound of the trucks would draw someone out to meet us, or at least create a need for surveillance." Kyle said while slowly stopping the truck. I could see from the side mirror that Wes did the same in the second truck.

Despite Jeb's absence we pulled into the loading area and got out of the trucks. "I'm going to go see what's going on inside. Someone should have met us by now." Geoffrey said.

"I'll go too." I started following him, but Kyle caught my arm and warned me that something could have happened in our absence and nodded for Wes and Geoffrey to check out the inside. In the meantime, Kyle, Andy and I paced the loading area and tried not to worry. When fifteen minutes passed with no sign of anyone's emergence from inside, I made the decision to go in and see for myself what the holdup was.

"Mel, I don't think that's such a good idea." Kyle interjected. "We need to get out of here. Something is obviously is wrong, and personally I want to get the hell out before I get caught and turned into a parasite."

"No! I'm going in. Jamie is in there! Your sister is in there, Kyle." That seemed to snap him out of his selfish panic mode and the three of us stormed into the caves.

We were met instantly with the sound of talking and decided to halt and see if the voices came from friends or foes.

"I don't want her to see him." It was Wanda. "It would just cause her undue pain and suffering. Jamie either for that matter."

"I hafta disagree with ya there, Wanderer. It's their lives and I don't think we ought to be meddling in their business."

"Who's business?" I asked making my presence known. From their tones and the-albeit confusing-subject matter, I knew they were still human.

"Oh! Mel, there you are!" Wanda said, opening her arms and stepping toward me for a hug. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, Wanda. But, don't try to distract me, what were you guys talking about? I heard Jamie's name, has something happened to him? Where is he? Why isn't he with you?"

"Well, no, nothing has happened to him exactly." Wanda said fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. Jeb stood at her side, just staring at me, head cocked as though he was trying to figure something out within his own mind. .

"Obviously something has happened!" I shouted and started pushing through them and into the caves, I could feel Wanda trying to stop me, but I was far too angered and worried to let her feeble attempts slow me down.. "And if you won't tell me, then I will find out what you are hiding myself!"

It wasn't hard to find the cause of Wanda and Jeb's interference, there was a crowd gathered around something in the game room. I was too far away to be noticed and couldn't hear what anyone was saying. However, from the sound of their voices, they were none too happy with whatever was in the middle. I stood stock still for a moment, my mind trying to figure out the scenario before my senses could see for themselves what was going on. Had Jamie done something that angered the entire group enough to start a riot? No, Jamie was too kind to do something that would cause people harm. If it wasn't Jamie, what could have happened?

"Mel, stop!" Wanda yelled from behind me. Damn, I should have just moved forward when I had the chance. Now, Wanda was going to try and stop me again. Jeb must have detained the other two because I couldn't hear them behind me anymore. I was hoping to use them as backup. "Please, just listen to me. You really aren't going to want to just step out in front of him."

"Him? Him who? Wanda, just tell me what is going on! I'm dying over here trying not to think of the worst possible scenario."

"Trust me, Mel. Even your worst fear about what could have happened wouldn't trump the reality."

"That really doesn't make me feel any better." I was even more anxious now to try and find out what was going on. "You have two minutes to try and get your point across. After that, I'm going to find out for myself what is going on."

Wanda just stood in front of me for a moment, probably trying to figure out what to say. When she noticed that I was becoming exasperated with her silence, she began to speak in a rush. "This morning, Jeb went out to see if you guys were near on his daily rounds, and found something laying in the desert. He came and got a rescue team and brought back what he found."

"And what did he find, Wanda?" My voice was becoming panicked. Something bad happened, I just knew it. I had a few theories as to what it was too.

"You see...I just..."

I couldn't wait any longer. This was taking too long and I just needed to see for myself what or who was causing such commotion. I approached the group quickly, not wanting Wanda to try and stop me yet again. The crowd didn't move as I approached, but rather closed ranks as the thing they were focused on spoke.

"I-I don't mean any harm."

Oh, god. I knew that voice better than I knew my own.

He attempted to speak again, but a loud 'whack' kept the words from reaching my ears. That and the blackness that clouded my vision as I slowly fell to the ground.

**Thank you to those of you who have still been reviewing even through my absence. I'm not sure when I will be able to update again, and I know that this chapter is short but I wanted to update before Thursday. Also known as the day I die from sheer joy at finally getting to see my favorite book turned into a movie.**

**Also, thank you to new followers and reviewers. Not to mention those of you who have been around since the beginning and encouraged me to continue.**

**Until we meet again, please leave me a review and let me know what you think.**


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